That 1,600-square-foot stone and brick building called The Cottage is now home to many operations for Tapestry Farms. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Tapestry Farms has a new home that will help people, provide meeting space and office space for the growing organization. The nonprofit organization – that helps refugees resettle in the Quad Cities and operates an urban farm system to grow food in the area – hosted an open house late Thursday, Oct. 27, for its […]
Tapestry Farms has a new home that will help people, provide meeting space and office space for the growing organization.The nonprofit organization – that helps refugees resettle in the Quad Cities and operates an urban farm system to grow food in the area – hosted an open house late Thursday, Oct. 27, for its new multi-purpose office building.That 1,600-square-foot stone and brick building, now called The Cottage, attracted more than 100 people in the first hour of the three-hour open house on the Annie Wittenmyer campus in Davenport. Tapestry Farms’ office is located at 2800 Eastern Ave., Building G.“This is going to be a good spot for us. … It’s a beautiful place,” Tapestry Farms Founder and Executive Director Ann McGlynn said as she greeted visitors to The Cottage.People look over some of the facilities at The Cottage on Thursday. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
The building, which has a rich history and is owned by the City of Davenport, offers a variety of features. They include:
Office space for Tapestry Farms. That office has two round tables and other furniture, but no traditional office desks. Ms. McGlynn said the group decided not to put desks in the office because workers will spend relatively little time in the office – and much more time in the field helping clients. She said it made more sense to have a couple of tables for laptop computers.
A grocery/supply section that is called the “Karibu Market.” (“Karibu” means “welcome” in Swahili.) It offers a wide variety of food and supplies that are given to eligible clients. Supplies range from apple juice, rice, fresh vegetables, beans, mango juice, cassava flour and much more. The section also has two freezers that hold goat meat and whole tilapia. The market is operated in partnership with Community Action of Eastern Iowa.
A conference room that will be used for a variety of meetings, such as classes and perhaps some social gatherings. “We want to start offering events for people to come together,” Ms. McGlynn said.
There also is a plant room with a hydroponic tower, and a caring closet with other supplies for people.
The Cottage was furnished by Humble Dwellings, a nonprofit that provides furniture and household items to those in need.
During Thursday’s open house, the words “beautiful,” “welcoming” and “great” were repeated by many of the visitors.But it took a lot of work to get The Cottage into that beautiful shape. Ms. McGlynn said a small army of workers and volunteers has been cleaning, painting, fixing up and rebuilding the interior of the property since Tapestry Farms moved into the building Aug. 15. The work continued up until just a day or so before the open house.Ann McGlynn, left, the founder and executive director of Tapestry Farms, shows people the conference room portion of The Cottage on Thursday during the group’s open house. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSONOne of the volunteers who helped with the work is Fritz Voss of Bettendorf. Mr. Voss, who was at Thursday’s open house, pointed out that he helped do the shelving work in the building’s supply closet and other projects. He also discussed the big transformation of the building in the past few weeks.“It is beautiful now. But you should have seen the place before this. This place was a shambles. There was this ugly green paint in here,” he added.Ms. McGlynn said she is proud that Tapestry Farms is giving new life to a building that has a rich history in the community. She added the building was constructed around 1930 as a preschool for the Annie Wittenmyer campus. It was later used as a therapist office and used by the Family Resources organization.“We are incredibly thankful, as we are already experiencing how The Cottage is fostering community and improving the welcoming infrastructure for refugees in the Quad Cities,” according to a post on the Tapestry Farms’ Facebook page.Tapestry Farms is likely to remain in The Cottage for at least the next few years. Ms. McGlynn said the organization has the long-term goal of buying a building in downtown Davenport and turning it into its new headquarters. That project could take five years and cost $2 million.The ultimate goal is to buy and renovate the vacant building at 814 W. Third St. that could house Tapestry Farms’ offices, farm operations center and have an apartment on the second floor.
